The present invention relates to inkjet ink cartridges and, more specifically, to a machine and method for use in refilling such inkjet ink cartridges.
Inkjet printing is a non-impact printing process in which droplets of ink are deposited on print media, such as paper, to form the desired image. The droplets are ejected from a printhead in response to electrical signals generated by a microprocessor.
With the advent of computers, more people, both in an individual capacity and as business owners, have purchased digital printers including inkjet printers.
Many of these inkjet printers, particularly for the small office/home office (“SOHO”) market segment, contain ink cartridges. The ink cartridges can simply be ink tanks containing a supply of ink, which ink tank is connected to a printhead incorporated into the printer assembly, or can be integrated cartridges containing an ink tank and an integrated printhead. The ink tanks of the integrated cartridges usually contain either a sponge or a bladder to contain the ink supply.
Ink cartridges for the SOHO market typically contain up to about 50 ml of ink, albeit most often significantly less than that, and the integrated cartridges can cost as much as $40-50 for a single cartridge.
Some cartridges just contain black ink, while others contain one or a combination of colors (typically cyan, yellow and/or magenta). When the ink in the cartridge is exhausted (including the case where only one of the inks from a tri-color cartridge is depleted), or the cartridge stops functioning properly (for example, due to clogging of the printhead), the user has several options. Traditionally, the user has simply thrown the “spent” cartridge away and purchased an original equipment (“OEM”) replacement at a high price. More recently, however, the user has been presented with a number of lower-cost aftermarket alternatives.
The least expensive of these alternatives is a self-refill kit, in which the user is supplied a bottle of ink, some tools (such as a syringe) and instructions on accessing and replenishing the ink supply. The use of these kits, however, tends to create a mess and the results are often far less than adequate in terms of refillability and successful reuse of the refilled cartridge.
As another available alternative, the user can mail the spent cartridge to an industrial entity that will refill the cartridge and mail it back to the user. When the cartridge is mailed in for refill, the process is rather slow and the cartridge can be damaged in the mail during transportation to or handling at the refilling company, rendering the cartridge unsuitable for refilling. The cartridge can also be damaged after it is refilled. In both cases, the user loses both time and money in an unsuitable replacement. The very nature of the mail-in refilling process necessitates days or weeks of combined transit and process time prior to re-filling, and the effect of this time on the cartridge is detrimental. The longer a cartridge exists in an empty state, removed from the printer, the less likely it is to be successfully refilled.
Further, most ink jet cartridge refilling companies are industrial facilities that conduct volume refills. These facilities are not suitable for individual customers. The refilling process typically involves many machines that process cartridges in batches. For example, a batch of cartridges may first be processed so that any ink remaining in the cartridges is emptied. Then, that batch is moved to another machine that cleans the inner areas of the cartridges to ensure the removal of all of the ink residue. Then, for example, the batch is moved to another machine that fills all the cartridges. Finally, the batch is moved to another station that checks each cartridge performance for accuracy against the OEM's reference print, which is common in the trade. The finished cartridges are then packaged and held for shipment to vendors per order.
More typically, these industrial refillers supply refilled cartridges in bulk to resellers, such as office supply stores or mail order services, that sell these refilled cartridges under the store or service brand for a discount (typically 20-33% less) as compared to the price of a comparable “new” OEM cartridge.
One disadvantage to the mail order service is that it does take time to process orders and to ship. In addition, with both the mail order services and local store resellers, there is often a higher cartridge failure rate (either total failure or less than advertised print life) as compared to new OEM cartridges, which is typically handled though a return and exchange process, potentially causing additional time, inconvenience and expense for the user.
What is desired, therefore, is a machine that can refill and test individual ink jet cartridges of the most common types, for individual users, while the cartridge to be refilled is still extremely fresh, and while the consumer is present. This will allow the consumer more options for filling the cartridge, minimize incidents of damage to the cartridge after the cartridge is filled because the consumer can maintain control over the cartridge in transit, and reduce the risk of the user obtaining a defective cartridge.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a machine that is suitable for refilling a variety of inkjet cartridges (such as those by different manufacturers) quickly, easily and affordably, with only a minimum of adjustment to the machine's operation, and in other than an industrial setting, such as at a retail location.